02331cam a22002417 4500001000600000003000500006005001700011008004100028100002500069245014300094260006600237490004100303500001800344520134400362530006101706538007201767538003601839700002301875710004201898830007601940856003702016856003602053w3590NBER20170817234559.0170817s1991 mau||||fs|||| 000 0 eng d1 aChoi, Frederick D.S.10aInternational Accounting Diversityh[electronic resource]:bDoes it Impact Market Participants? /cFrederick D.S. Choi, Richard M. Levich. aCambridge, Mass.bNational Bureau of Economic Researchc1991.1 aNBER working paper seriesvno. w3590 aJanuary 1991.3 aWhile many indicators point to the globalization of capital markets, one barrier may persist -- International Accounting Diversity. Even though coordination of many national policies is gaining favor, the measurement and disclosure principles that underlie financial statements remain largely a nationalistic affair. In this paper, we analyze the channels through which accounting diversity affects financial statements. Accounting differences may affect cash flows and lead to a direct affect on valuation. Accounting differences may also affect balance sheet items and measures of capital adequacy or credit worthiness that indirectly affect managerial decisions and firm valuation. In a survey of participants in the international capital market, we find that accounting diversity is a problem that affects the capital market decisions of roughly one-half of the participants in our study. Thus, we cannot rule out the possibility that international accounting diversity is a barrier whose presence may affect the pricing of securities and the composition of international portfolios. On the other hand, roughly one-half of the participants in this study found what they described as effective ways of coping with diversity. These coping mechanisms may be useful for other investors and issuers in making their capital market decisions. aHardcopy version available to institutional subscribers. aSystem requirements: Adobe [Acrobat] Reader required for PDF files. aMode of access: World Wide Web.1 aLevich, Richard M.2 aNational Bureau of Economic Research. 0aWorking Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research)vno. w3590.4 uhttp://www.nber.org/papers/w359041uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.3386/w3590